A War Against Thorns
by midnightbokeh
Summary: The Sleeping Curse broken, a princess is stolen in the night by an evil fairy and her demonic familiar… or so the wrathful King believes as he wages a terrible war of vengeance against the Moors.
1. Chapter 1

"Are we going back to the Moors now?"

"If that is what you wish."

Creeping through the dark corridors of King Stefan's castle like a thief in the night, the walls seeming to close around her at every turn, Aurora was unable to think of a time she had wished more vehemently for anything. She could take comfort, at least, in the powerful fairy's presence at her side (_Maleficent_, she reminded herself, the name still a fresh revelation in her mind), and Diaval too, the raven uncharacteristically quiet for once as the trio made their escape.

She experienced some lingering effects of the Sleeping Curse yet, truth be told; her head felt alternately stuffed with cotton and full of water that sloshed in a most disorienting manner with every step, and her finger still ached where she had pricked it on the spindle. Not that she would mention any of this. She might even have denied feeling any ill effects at all if asked, so grief-stricken had Maleficent looked when Aurora first awakened. Aurora had decided then and there that she would do anything to see Maleficent smile again (or that half-smirking upturn of her mouth that passed for a smile on the best of days, at any rate).

The first step to making that happen was to get far, far away from this horrid place she once thought, for a few misguided hours, could be her new home.

The passageway opened into a cavernous hall, though the air she breathed was no less oppressive, thick as it was with smoke from an unseen source as though a great fire burned someplace nearby. Pale moonlight shining through a wide, arched window cast slanted shadows across a floor coated in dust and grime from years of neglect. Aurora fought the urge to reach out and clutch at Maleficent's cloak, and instead concentrated on not making even the smallest sound as she followed after her.

Aurora felt it before she heard it - a frightful prickling at the back of her neck preceding the sound of a latch being released, an echoing click of metal on metal - and reacted on pure instinct in the split second it took to glance up.

"Look out!" she screamed, leaping forward with arms outstretched.

She managed to knock Maleficent out of the way just as a giant net of cast-iron rings plummeted from the ceiling. It struck Aurora right on the head and made her collapse instantly beneath its weight.

The trap meant for a dark fairy had instead ensnared a princess.

Aurora lay stunned and winded for several moments, too shocked to register the painful bruises on her body or the awful ruckus happening all around her. As her senses returned, she became dimly aware of anguished cries of her name, frantic caws and circling wingbeats.

"Aurora!" Maleficent's face appeared before her, contorted in fear. She bent over Aurora's prone form and tried to pull away the netting, only to jerk back with a sharp hiss when the iron chain-links burned a furious red at her touch.

Though Aurora did not feel any heat, her heart clenched and pounded with panic as the room filled with a clamor of heavy footsteps, the rattle of plate armor and shields and weapons heralding the arrival of soldiers by the dozens. "Go!" she begged Maleficent. The King would not harm his own daughter, but certain death awaited evil fairies who dared defy the throne. "You can't stay here! Please!"

But Maleficent would not go. She spun around, raising both arms, calling forth magic that crackled like green fire. It burst forth from her fingertips and knocked a volley of crossbow bolts from the air. Aurora struggled to rise.

_"Into a dragon!"_ snapped Maleficent's voice. Somewhere in the rafters, the cawing noises transformed into earth-shaking roars.

Diaval landed next to Aurora with a mighty thud, lowered his dragon's snout and snatched up the iron net that pinned her to the floor. He flung it aside before unleashing a torrent of flames at the nearest group of armed men with an enraged bellow. Maleficent fought like a wild creature, eyes glinting in the fiery light as she cast spell after spell from her staff at the soldiers that encircled them, but for each one she knocked down, two more sprung forward to fill the gap.

Protected on both sides by dragon and fairy, Aurora scrambled to her feet at last. "Climb on his back," Maleficent ordered. "Now!" This Aurora did without hesitation, pulling herself hand over foot and settling in the crook of Diaval's neck between great leathery wings.

"Stop, you fiends! You'll not get away with her!" came a deep, angry shout.

The wall of shields parted for one man, heavily armored from head to toe, wielding an iron flail in one hand and a sword in the other. With a fearsome battlecry, he dropped a plated shoulder and charged at Maleficent.

In response, Maleficent slammed the end of her staff into the stone floor. A blinding flash of green light erupted from its crystal at the same time as an enormous shockwave that rocked the hall. Glass shattered, soldiers flew through the air, and King Stefan was thrown against a wall with such force that his weapons clattered from his grip. Aurora buried her face into Diaval's scaly neck, clinging on for dear life as he took flight, lifting higher with each flap of his massive wings.

Maleficent jumped onto a clawed forefoot and turned to face the incapacitated crowd.

"Hear me well, all of you!" she declared, her voice magically projected to the farthest reaches of the castle. "You are outmatched by powers you cannot begin to comprehend. If you value your pathetic lives, you will not pursue your precious princess - not now, not ever!"

Diaval swept the room with a final plume of fire as if to punctuate his mistress' point, then turned and shot out the broken window into the night sky.

They were going home.


	2. Chapter 2

King Stefan was livid.

The three Good Fairies hovered anxiously as he paced and cursed and pounded his gauntleted fists upon the broad table. They had just returned to the castle gates in the wee hours of the morning, having searched high and low for an eligible True Love to wake the sleeping princess, when they were intercepted by the captain of the King's Guard and herded brusquely into the council chamber with nary an explanation of what was going on.

"She was under _your care_. Yours!" Stefan turned on the fairies and cornered them against a high-backed chair. "I should have you thrown in the dungeons to rot for this!"

"Your Majesty!" cried Knotgrass, wringing her hands. "Please, what has happened?"

"What has happened, what-" Stefan first muttered, then shouted, "I'll tell you what! You allowed Maleficent to steal my daughter right from under your noses! That _monster_ and her demon spawn waltzed in here and _took_ her while you were gallivanting about town!"

"We were looking for her True Love!" said Thistlewit in protest.

"There is no such thing," Stefan ground out.

"You mustn't say that, Majesty!"

"Flittle's right, there's still hope that Aurora can awaken!"

"She's already awake, you dullards!" said Stefan. "Maleficent revoked the curse only to put another spell on the girl to make her do as she commanded."

"Oh, but that's wonderful—"

"—Aurora's awake!"

"Whatever could Maleficent want with her? Why would she take her now?"

"_Enough!_" Stefan struck the table again, startling the fairies into silence. "I don't care about the whats or whys. I want to know _where_ she has taken her and _how_ I can get her back."

The three sisters shared a look with one another.

As if by tacit agreement, it was Knotgrass who fluttered forward. "We can find out, Your Majesty, but we need time…"

"You have until sundown to tell me where they've gone." Stefan jabbed a finger at the red-garbed fairy. "Fail me, and you will pay the price."

A chorus of _Yes, Your Majesties_ and an excessive display of bowing later, the Good Fairies departed the castle as fast as their tiny wings could carry them.

—

It could have gone far worse in a myriad different ways, Maleficent mused to herself as Diaval soared through clear, cool skies, the moon hanging low over the western horizon. But still, she could not shake the unease that plagued her mind over all that had transpired. She could not understand why Aurora had done what she did, diving headlong into a deadly trap meant for her alone. Oh, she knew the human girl was immune to iron, but it was the _intent_ that haunted her, Aurora's total disregard for her own safety in the face of the unknown… and for what? To ensure the well-being of someone who had cursed her in the first place? The entire situation was almost laughable in its absurdity.

Seized with the urge to check on Aurora, perhaps to make sure she was really there in one piece, Maleficent rose from the crook of Diaval's elbow where it was tucked against his chest (eliciting a huff and sidelong glance from the raven-as-dragon), and carefully climbed over his shoulder.

Aurora, who had shifted down to the center of Diaval's back at some point mid-flight, lifted her head at Maleficent's arrival and smiled without the least bit of reserve. "So this is what it's like to fly," she said in greeting.

"Of a sort," Maleficent replied. _If being carried is what it's like to walk_, she did not say aloud. She sat facing Aurora, legs tucked beneath folded knees. Though she had not thought her expression betrayed anything, Aurora reacted as though she'd heard the unspoken words.

"I'm sorry," she said, ducking her chin. Windblown golden hair fell messily about her face. "I know it's not the same for you."

Maleficent shook her head and resisted the temptation to reach out and brush back Aurora's hair. "You are not the one who should be apologizing."

Aurora was silent for several moments and then, smile returning as she gazed up at Maleficent, said, "You came back for me."

This change of subject surprised Maleficent to the point of not knowing what to say.

"I didn't expect you to," Aurora continued. "It was foolish of me to call you evil and run away, and when father locked me up I thought I might never have the chance to tell you so. I was… I still am confused about many things." She took a breath. "My aunts told me that you cursed me because you were not invited to my christening. But that's not right, is it?"

Now Maleficent did laugh, briefly. Leave it to those nitwits to come up with such drivel. "No," she said, serious once more, and found she could not quite bring herself to meet Aurora's eyes. "I cursed you because your father stole my wings to ascend the throne, and I sought to steal something even more precious from him in retaliation."

"Oh," breathed Aurora. She fidgeted with the dirtied blue hem of her dress for a long while, deliberating her next words. "When I was asleep, everything was dark, yet I could still hear what was going on around me as if from a great distance, like lying at the bottom of a very deep well." Here she paused, took in the look of alarm that flitted across Maleficent's face, and finished, "I know you won't ask my forgiveness, but I want you to know that you have it. Now that I understand why… I forgive you, Maleficent."

Maleficent opened her mouth and closed it again. This unassuming girl before her contained more courage and grace than should be possible for a single being, yet here they were, alive and unburdened of a curse that had overshadowed both their lives for sixteen years, the future a wide unknown expanse. Maleficent was indebted to Aurora, a debt she would never be finished repaying. And if it was the Moors where Aurora wished to stay, Maleficent would do everything in her power to ensure it.

She did not believe for an instant that Stefan would let the matter go so easily. He had an image to maintain, after all, and being bested in combat by an evil fairy was no doubt a most embarrassing blow to his reputation.

He would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, even if it brought his kingdom to ruin.

But these were ruminations that could wait, Maleficent decided when familiar treetops of the Moors came into view and Diaval began circling his descent. For now, there were more immediate concerns to attend to.


End file.
